FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. -- With the snip of a ribbon, tax season began at Fort Meade.
During a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday, Garrison Commander Col. Edward C. Rothstein and Staff Judge Advocate Lt. Col. Elizabeth Marotta officially opened the Fort Meade Joint Installation Tax Center.
Located at 4217 Roberts Ave., the center provides free tax assistance for service members, retirees and their dependents through Tax Day on April 17.
Hours are weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Appointments are recommended.
Last year, the Fort Meade tax center helped more than 1,300 service members, retirees and dependents file their taxes for a total refund amount of more than $3.5 million. The free service saved clients $321,652 in fees to prepare and file state and federal income taxes.
"We are able to provide such a terrific service to all of the Soldiers and dependents and save them so much money that it really is a wonderful thing to participate in," Marotta said.
The manpower behind the center includes nine "borrowed" service members and several volunteers with tax preparation backgrounds. Every member of the staff was required to attend training led by the Internal Revenue Services, the American Bar Association and the Rosenberg, Martin, Greenberg law firm in Baltimore.
During the brief ceremony, Rothstein thanked instructors from the IRS and law firm, while Marotta called the service members "the best and the brightest" of their units.
"If there's ever something where we need the best, it's the tax center because we're not doing anybody any favors if we don't know what we're doing. And you folks certainly know what you're doing," Marotta said. "I really appreciate all your hard work."
After the weeklong course and a series of tests, the service members and volunteers were certified to work at the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance site on the first floor of the SJA.
As certified tax preparers, the staff can prepare and file federal and state income tax forms.
While not all installations file state income taxes, the Fort Meade center can prepare state income tax forms for all 50 states, said Capt. Michael Madsen, officer in charge of the tax center.
"Every state is a little different, but we're going to take the time to make sure we do the research we have to, to make sure we can file people's state tax returns," Madsen said.
By solely servicing military members, retirees and dependents, the tax preparers are well-versed in issues pertaining to a service member's filings -- a benefit not all paid tax services can provide.
"We deal with all military, so we see a lot of military-specific issues - combat pay, relocation, income in multiple states," Madsen said. "We try to get all military folks in here. We want to save them some money and strive to have greater proficiency in common issues that face military members. We want to take care of our own."
However, because of IRS and Army regulations, the staff cannot prepare business income, including more than one rental space and more than 10 stock transactions. If an individual's taxes are too complicated, they will be referred to a paid tax service.
"We'd love to take care of our own, but we don't want to take on something out of our scope," Madsen said. "We wind up hurting the person we're trying to help."
With nearly 120 appointments already scheduled prior to the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Madsen recommends that clients make appointments rather than walk in. When calling to schedule an appointment, clients will undergo a brief interview to determine what forms and information are needed for the tax preparation.
Forms needed vary, based on a client's source of income during the year.
Appointments are scheduled for one or two hours, depending on the complexity of the filing.
In addition to the center's daily schedule, the facility will also be open some evenings and Saturdays when volunteers' schedules allow.
"We want to help service members and their families and retirees," Madsen said. "That's why we exist."
To schedule an appointment at the Fort Meade Joint Installation Tax Center, call 301-677-9762.
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